Planets
by Bojangles78
Summary: Three years...1095 days, but he knows she will be back, wherever she is.
1. Chapter 1

**AN- Another Holly/Trouble story (don't let that put you off!) I thought of when I was supposed to be revising yesterday. Hope you like it, please let me know what you think!

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Trouble Kelp sat down at his desk and crossed off another day on his calendar. One thousand and ninety five days; three years today. He opened up the internet program on his new computer, going straight to the Haven News homepage, although if anything had happened, he knew he would have heard about it. The headline on the top of the page nearly mad Trouble fall out of his (specially modified, according to Foaly) swivel chair: 'Holly Short Declared Dead'.

Trouble felt shock pulse through his veins as his mind put two and three together; the Lower Elements Courts were required to declare a fairy legally dead if they had been missing for three years, one thousand and ninety five days.

A phone ringing in the corner of the office brought the Commander out of his stupor. He crossed the small room quickly and picked up the phone, not surprised to find Foaly on the other end.

"You've seen the news, then," Trouble said, but was quickly interrupted by the centaur.

"Commander," Foaly began, and Trouble was confused; Foaly only ever used his rank when something official had happened... or when he was drunk, but it was eight in the morning. "Commander? You need to get here as quickly as possible."

"What? Why? Where are you?"

"We're just getting back from Tara- we'll be there in 5 minutes."

"Tara? What-" Trouble was even more confused by now.

"I can't tell you anything else; I'm not even supposed to tell you this. I have to go, see you in a few." The line went dead, and Trouble picked up a jacket as he ran for the bus to the E7 terminal.

The bus was late as usual, but Trouble was pleased to find that the radio was playing a half decent song for once, even if it was by a Mud Man band.

_I will race you to the waterside_

_And from the edge of Ireland shout out loud_

_So they could hear it in America_

_It's all for you._

This was one of those days when it hit him just how gone Holly actually was. He thought about her when he woke up, and when he went back to sleep again. His speech on being appointed Commander, about three weeks after her disappearance, had been inspired by her, and now Trouble realised, as the bus jolted to a halt at the E7 stop, that there was something more than friendship enslaved in his feelings towards Captain Holly Short.

Being a male, naturally, he simply didn't know what it was.

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Since being appointed Commander of the LEP, Trouble Kelp had acquired a level of respect from civilians which now included the opportunity to be sent to the back of the longest queue, and the privilege of paying extra tax on his groceries. Normally, he would accept this with a smile and a deep breath, but today of all days he really was not in the mood.

"Look, could you just let me through to the landing bay, please?" he repeated as he waved his badge impatiently at the young gnome ('Greg', according to his badge), who grunted reluctantly as he pointed towards the blacked out room where he presumed Foaly must be.

The radio broadcast over the terminal was still playing the song from the bus, and Trouble had to take a breath to steady himself as the lyrics hit him once more.

_The planets bend between us_

_A hundred million Suns and Stars_

He knew Holly was alive, no matter what the Courts said, and he would find her one day, where ever she was.

"Trouble?" Came a voice from the doorway.

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**AN- So...what did you think? Anyone who can guess the song name/band gets a...ummm...some sort of prize :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN- Hey! Here's the second (and final, :P) chapter, thank you stefanlover12 and Liris for your reviews, and well done Liris for guessing the song was 'The Planets Bend Between Us' by Snow Patrol :) Hope you like this chapter!

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Trouble turned around to see Foaly standing a few feet away, with what appeared to be a demon behind him.

"Trouble." The demon repeated. "Torment. Turmoil. Harrow." He stopped as Foaly calmly placed a hand over his mouth.

"There's so much to explain," began Foaly, as he led the Commander into the room, where an ash-covered elf was fighting off three Medi-wizards.

"Honestly, I'm fine. Can you just get off me so I can-" Holly stopped mid-sentence as she saw who had just walked into the room.

He couldn't even dare consider it. Despite his eternal protests, he had never been able to actually allow himself to believe she would be back...and yet...

"Holly?" He blushed furiously as his voice cracked with emotion. She smiled, seemingly lighting up the entire room. Before Foaly could even reach for his newly designed camera, the two elves were entangled in some kind of embrace. Luckily for Foaly, the LEP surveillance cameras never stopped recording.

A few minutes later, they broke apart, much to Number 1's relief- all this emotion had been too much.

"Love. Desire. Affection." The young demon suddenly realised the effect his words were having on the other occupants of the room, judging by the blush creeping up the pair's faces, and stopped talking before Foaly could stop him.

Half an hour later, and they had left the terminal in favour of a cafe in Haven, where Holly was being brought back up to date with all she had missed in the last few years- Foaly's wedding plans, Trouble's promotion, Grub's lawsuits against various companies... Eventually, the light began to fade, and Foaly excused himself, for he was taking Caballine out to dinner, and Qwan arrived to take No.1 back with him, leaving Holly and Trouble to finish their drinks.

"How have the Harriers been getting on?" Holly asked- her favourite professional Crunchball team had been wallowing at the bottom of the league last week...three years ago, but she was hopeful that their fortunes had changed.

"They nearly won the league the season before last, but they were relegated in May," Trouble sighed, still embarrassed at his team's frankly embarrassing defeat. They spent the next few minutes debating whether or not the team would be promoted any time soon, but were interrupted by a young pixie waitress who informed them that it was nearly closing time.

"I suppose we'd better be off, then," said Holly.

"I guess. I'll walk you back, if you like," Trouble offered, and Holly smiled half-heartedly.

"Back to where? The lease ran out on my flat two years ago- I'm going to have to stay in LEP accommodation for a while." They exchanged a knowing look: LEP accommodation was not nice in any way at all, they knew this from their experiences in the Academy; Trouble still couldn't see the colour beige without wanting to retch.

"Don't be ridiculous, you can stay at mine for a bit. I don't live too far away, and Grub has moved out...finally." He muttered the last word under his breath, just loud enough for Holly to hear, and they both laughed. _Frond_, he had missed that laugh.

"Sure. Thanks."

Trouble had been right; five minutes later they were stood in the lift heading up to his flat, still talking about the Harriers. Since his promotion, Trouble had been able to afford a (only slightly, mind) nicer flat, where he even had a spare bedroom, luckily for Holly, for the sofa was notoriously uncomfortable.

After a quick sandwich, Trouble realised that Holly was probably a bit more tired than she had been letting on, judging by the fact that she fell asleep halfway through her second sandwich. He couldn't leave her asleep at the table all night- the manners instilled in him by his mother wouldn't allow it- so he lifted her up gently and carried her through to the spare room, where he placed her under the (recently washed, thanks to his increasing amount of free time) sheets. A glance at the clock told him that it was high time for him to be going to sleep too, but he found he simply couldn't bear to leave the room, scared that, if he did, she would be gone when he came back. Instead, Trouble sat on the wooden chair in the corner, and skimmed through a book until fatigue got the better of him.

Holly woke up the next morning to see Commander Kelp slumped in a chair in the corner, and felt confused- where was she? And why was Trouble here? She tried to get out of the bed, but had gotten caught up in the sheets and ended up falling out of it, shocking Trouble out of his sleep.

"D'Arvit! Are you alright?" They looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter, which took more than a while to subside. Finally, the tears stopped, and Trouble helped Holly out of the sheets (or death-trap, as she called them).

"Why were you even in here, Trouble?" Holly asked, and he blushed.

"I was worried you wouldn't be there when I came back," he mumbled, and the blush was returned.

A moment's silence passed.

"I missed you, Holly."


End file.
